How Britain's Brexiters ‘Won the Vaccine War'
Claims that the Pfizer-BioNTech shot wouldn’t have been approved as quickly in the EU don’t stand up. Ministers are desperate for Brexit victories.
“Because of Brexit...”
Photographer: Peter Summers/Getty Images EuropeTrade talks with the European Union have reached the endgame for real this time. Whether or not a deal is announced in the days ahead, the outcome bears no resemblance to the vision that was sold to U.K. voters in 2016 and ever since. Brits were told they’d keep all the benefits of the single market, while the country would regain all of its sovereignty. That’s clearly not going to happen.
As usual, Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party is trying to brazen this out. Its tactic seems to be: Put on a pair of Brexit-tinted glasses and you’re good to go, regardless of the economic cost of splitting from the continent (assessed here by Bloomberg Economics). The U.K.’s rapid approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine provides a taste of how this attempt to claim Brexit victories is going to work.